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  “But I’m already a mess. If I carry you over, you won’t have to be.”

  She looked him up and down. “Yes, but the footing is terrible. You could easily slip, and then where would we be?”

  He swiped the rain away from his eyes. “I won’t slip.” By now his boots were so full of water they’d keep him well stabilized.

  “I’m sure you wouldn’t mean to slip, but how often do you carry a person who weighs a hundred and…twenty through the mud?”

  He couldn’t help grinning. Women and their weight issues. “More often than you’d suppose. I’m a wilderness guide, and I’m certified for search and rescue. In other words, I’m a professional.”

  “Oh. That explains the Adventure Trekking logo on your truck and your shirt.”

  “Exactly. I could carry you even if you weighed one-thirty.” He was guessing at how much she’d subtracted from her actual weight.

  Her cheeks turned pink and her chin lifted. “One-twenty-six.”

  She wore it well, too. “Come on. Just let me do my thing. It would be a shame to get those sparkly toes all covered with muck.”

  “They’d wash off, but…all right, Wyatt Locke of Adventure Trekking. You’re getting soaked, and you’ve convinced me I’m just being stubborn.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  “I believe you, and that kind of restraint is impressive.” She smiled at him. “Let me put my shoes in my purse before you hoist me out of here.”

  He waited as the rain plastered his clothes to his body. He hadn’t been this wet fully clothed since the time he’d fallen in the Snake River on a canoe trip two years ago.

  “Ready.” She hung her purse strap around her neck and scooted out from behind the wheel. “Can you get the door once I’m out?”

  “Uh-huh.” Moving into a half crouch, he slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her shoulder blades. She felt warm, soft and infinitely huggable. If it were up to him, she wouldn’t lose an ounce of that one-twenty-six. “Put your arms around my neck.”

  She did, bringing with her a tantalizing scent of jasmine.

  He was starting to enjoy himself. “On the count of three. One, two, three.” He lifted her, taking care not to bang her head on the door frame, and stood slowly as she nestled against him. “Okay?”

  “Yes.”

  He was more than okay. Coming to the aid of a beautiful woman—he’d upgraded her from pretty to beautiful—was a rewarding experience. Besides getting points for gallantry, he was required to cuddle with said woman for a brief time, all in the name of a heroic rescue. He turned toward his truck.

  “Don’t forget the door.”

  “Right.” Which he had. The sensual pleasure of holding her had short-circuited his brain.

  Rotating in place, he nudged the door with his left knee. The sideways tilt of the Jeep meant gravity was in his favor, and the door swung closed with a solid clunk. But using his knee to close the door threw him slightly off balance.

  She let out a little cry of alarm and tightened her hold on his neck. “Don’t you dare drop me!”

  “Easy does it. We’re fine.” He regained his balance and adjusted his hold. God, she felt good in his arms. Part of that was her welcome warmth against his chilled body, but he could get that from a hot water bottle. She was a lot more satisfying to hold, and he was reminded that he’d been so busy working in the past year or so that he’d abandoned his social life.

  The trip to his truck took maybe five seconds, and he cherished every one. Too soon he had to lean down and slide her onto the fabric seat, which was also wet after having the door open so long. “There you go.”

  “Thank you.” She scrambled onto the seat and unhooked her purse from around her neck. He thought she’d go for her shoes, but instead she put the purse on the floor with the bags and started running her fingers up through her wet hair as if trying to save the look she’d started out with.

  Shrugging, he closed the door and sloshed around to the driver’s side. A woman’s concern with her appearance was usually a warning signal for him after all the years he’d spent watching his mother obsess about her hair, makeup and clothes. But he didn’t know this particular woman well enough to make snap judgments.

  Hell, he didn’t even know her name. Climbing into the truck, he closed the door and fastened his seat belt. She was still futzing with her hair. “It looks fine,” he said.

  She laughed and finger-combed it back from her face. “I’m sure it doesn’t, but thanks for saying that. I’m Olivia, by the way. Olivia Sedgewick. And I appreciate you rescuing me and keeping my feet clean.”

  “You’re welcome, Olivia. Nice to meet you.” And he meant it sincerely. He flashed her a smile for added emphasis.

  “The thing is, I’m a beautician, so I like to arrive at an appointment somewhat pulled together.”

  “You have an appointment at the ranch?” He put the truck in gear, and after a moment’s hesitation while the tires worked out of the mud, it moved forward.

  “Uh-huh.” She took her trendy heels out of her purse and slipped them on her feet. “Sarah hired me to come out and give everyone manicures.”

  “Everyone?” Wyatt had only spent about ten minutes with Jack, but he couldn’t picture the guy getting his nails done.

  “All the women, I mean. Most of the guys are out of town this weekend at a horse show and sale, so Sarah decided to schedule a night of beauty for herself and her daughters-in-law, plus a few other women connected to the ranch in one way or another. I’m going to try and get a few pedicures in there, too.”

  “Oh.” Wyatt wished to hell he’d pushed past his fear of rejection and called ahead. “I assume that means Jack’s gone, too.”

  “I’m afraid so.” She glanced at him. “Sorry. Kind of messes up your surprise, doesn’t it?”

  “It kind of does.” He stared out the windshield. Maybe the storm had been an omen after all. Not only had he missed Jack, he’d landed in the middle of a girls-only beauty shindig. He had bad timing all the way around.

  2

  OLIVIA FELT SORRY FOR her hero. Wyatt Locke seemed like a really nice guy, besides being serious eye candy. His wet T-shirt clung to muscled pecs and washboard abs that made her little heart go pitty-pat.

  The trip from her Jeep to his truck had been a true delight. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been carried, let alone by a guy with such a hard body. On top of that, he had nice eyes, a great smile and he hadn’t dropped her in the mud.

  But now, after his outstanding rescue, he wouldn’t get to spring his surprise on his half brother, at least not immediately. She tried to come up with a consoling statement. “Jack can still be surprised when he comes home tomorrow night.”

  “I guess. But once the weather clears up, I’ll head back to the Bunk and Grub for tonight.”

  Although the Bunk and Grub B and B wasn’t far away, she was still surprised he had a reservation there. “You weren’t planning to stay at the ranch?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “But I thought you said you were Jack’s half brother.”

  “Yeah, well.” He sighed. “It’s complicated.”

  Olivia was beginning to understand the Chance family was full of complications. Although she’d only arrived in Shoshone from Pittsburgh last fall, her job in the local salon, To Dye For, guaranteed that she heard all the gossip.

  Within a couple of months she’d found out that each of the Chance men had a different mother. Jack’s mom had left when he was two, Nick had been the result of a brief affair and Gabe was the only biological son of Sarah, Jonathan Chance’s second wife and now his widow. But according to everyone in town, Sarah treated all three as her own.

  Now here came another half brother, but he’d only made reference to Jack. “This is
really none of my business,” she said, “so you don’t have to answer, but I’m curious as to how you and Jack are related.”

  “We have the same mother.”

  “Ah.” So that was the much-maligned Diana who’d taken off all those years ago. Any time her name was mentioned, people made a face. “And is she…”

  “Alive and well in San Francisco.”

  “Hmm. I take it she and Jack aren’t close?”

  “They’ve had no contact since she left the ranch.”

  Olivia considered that for a moment, trying to imagine such a thing. Nope, couldn’t do it. “But you’re here now.”

  Wyatt heaved another sigh and stretched his arms against the steering wheel. “I didn’t find out Jack existed until last summer, and I…I’d like to get to know the guy.”

  “She kept Jack a secret?”

  “Yep.”

  Olivia didn’t say what she thought about that because Diana was his mother, after all, but apparently the people who made a face at the mention of her name had good reason. “Does Jack know you exist?”

  “Yeah, because I paid him a short visit last August. We left the situation sort of open-ended. I decided to come back and see…”

  The longing in his voice made her heart ache. “Are you an only child?”

  “No. I have a twin brother named Rafe.” He paused. “He thinks coming here is a dumb idea. And maybe it is.”

  “No, it’s not a dumb idea,” she said softly. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but if I suddenly found out I had one tucked away somewhere, I’d be making tracks for wherever that person lived. I mean, they’re your blood. That has to count for something.”

  He sent her a look of gratitude. “I think so.”

  Rain continued to pound the roof of the cab and splash against the windows, cocooning them from the rest of the world. A sense of intimacy enhanced by his impressive rescue almost made her comfortable enough to touch his arm in a gesture of understanding. Almost.

  “You said you don’t have brothers or sisters, so you must be an only child,” Wyatt said after a moment of cozy silence.

  “I am. My mom died soon after I was born, and my dad never remarried.”

  “Were you lonely?”

  Yes, achingly lonely. But she gave him the answer she always gave. “Not really. My dad’s an inventor so he worked at home. He kept me company.”

  “An inventor.” Wyatt sounded impressed. “You don’t hear that every day. Has he invented anything I’d know about?”

  “Actually he came up with a razor blade that never wears out.”

  Wyatt gave a low whistle of surprise. “Is it available? Because I would buy that in a second. I have to shave twice a day.”

  That comment directed her attention to his strong jaw. He must have shaved recently because no stubble showed, and now that he’d mentioned shaving, she remembered that she’d noticed a mint scent when he’d carried her to his truck. “Sorry, but the blade’s not available.”

  “When’s it coming out?”

  “It’s not. One of the big companies, and I’m not allowed to say which one, bought the patent because they didn’t want that product on the market. They said it would wreck their profit margin.”

  “Damn. Can I just buy one from your dad?”

  “’Fraid not. He had to destroy everything, including his research notes, in order to get the payoff. But it was a lot of money. That’s why we’re here, actually. He always wanted to live in Jackson Hole, so once he had the means, we pulled up stakes and left Pittsburgh.”

  “You live with him?”

  Olivia shook her head. “God, no. I had to deal with his cluttered lifestyle when I was a kid, but I don’t have to now. I live nearby so I can keep an eye on him and make sure that he eats, but I have my own place.”

  “He sounds like an interesting guy.”

  “Interesting, maddening, funny. He looks like that picture you’ve probably seen of Albert Einstein, white hair sticking out everywhere.”

  “Really?” He glanced at her. “But Einstein was old in that picture. You can’t be much over twenty-five.”

  “I’m twenty-eight, and Dad was fifty when I was born. His hair was already turning white then, and now it’s a hot mess. Besides being a nail tech I also do hair, but he won’t let me give him a decent haircut. He’d rather cut it himself with my mother’s old sewing scissors.”

  “At least he’s not vain.”

  That made her laugh. “No, he certainly isn’t. I’ve tried telling him how handsome he’d look if I trimmed his hair, and he just shrugs and says he doesn’t care about that.”

  “Speaking of your work, I really don’t see myself hanging around during a night of beauty.”

  “Maybe not, but I don’t think Sarah’s going to stand for you staying at the Bunk and Grub, either. It’s a very nice B and B and it’s almost like being with family because of Pam’s connection, but still, Sarah’s going to want you here, I’ll bet.” From what Olivia knew of the woman, she was virtually sure of it. A long-lost half brother wanting to connect with kin would touch Sarah’s heartstrings.

  “Pam Mulholland is part of the Chance family?”

  “You didn’t know that?”

  Wyatt shook his head. “There’s probably a lot I don’t know. And I want to.”

  “She’s Nick Chance’s aunt, his late mother’s older sister. In fact, Pam will be at this thing tonight, assuming she made it over before the storm hit.”

  “She probably did. Somebody else checked me in this afternoon and said Pam would be gone overnight.”

  “Pam didn’t recognize your name when you made a reservation?”

  “She didn’t act like she did. Jack and Sarah are the only people I met when I came here last August. Maybe they decided to keep my visit quiet.”

  “Maybe.” Although intimate details of people’s lives were freely bandied about in Shoshone, Olivia figured the town had its share of secrets, too. Wyatt might be one of them. “I’m guessing you didn’t leave a phone number or an address with Jack.”

  “No. To be honest, he was so abrupt that I wasn’t sure I’d come back. I understand why he might not welcome me with open arms, but like you said, we’re blood. I’d hate to miss out on…well, friendship, at the very least, and a deeper connection if such a thing is possible. Rafe doesn’t hold out much hope and doesn’t seem to care whether Jack accepts us or not. But I…I do.”

  Olivia turned to him. “I like your courage and persistence, Wyatt Locke. I’m glad you decided to come back and give the brother deal another try, because it means we got to meet.”

  He grinned at her. “Same here, Olivia. But no matter how much I like you, and I do, I’m still not up for a night of beauty with the girls.”

  * * *

  DESPITE THE DIFFICULTY he’d had driving through the storm, Wyatt was sorry when they reached the circular drive in front of the two-story log ranch house. He felt that he and Olivia had made a connection during that drive, and now that it was over, he wasn’t sure how to keep it.

  He really did plan to head back to the Bunk and Grub the minute the storm passed. There would be no advantage in hanging around. Olivia would be busy doing her job and he just didn’t fit in with an evening of foot massages and nail polish. Maybe he’d drive into town and get a beer and a burger at the Spirits and Spurs, Shoshone’s local bar.

  Several trucks and a couple of SUVs were parked to the left of the ranch house. “A lot of people are here,” he said. “Who did you say was coming?”

  “Well, there’s Pam, as I mentioned, and Mary Lou, the ranch cook, and Sarah’s three daughters-in-law—Dominique, Morgan and Josie. They each have homes on the ranch, but it’s not really walking distance so I’m sure they drove in. Then Morgan’s sister Tyler will be there—she
’s married to Josie’s brother Alex.”

  “Everybody’s sort of connected, aren’t they?” It sounded nice to Wyatt. Really nice.

  “It’s a close-knit group. Oh, and I’m pretty sure Emily will be there. She’s the daughter of the ranch’s foreman, Emmett Sterling, and she married Clay Whittaker this past spring. He runs the stud program at the ranch. I did everybody’s nails for that wedding. Great party.”

  As Wyatt had suspected, this was exactly the kind of family he’d always longed for and never had—informal and good-hearted. But they might not let him in. He quickly shoved away that thought, which was way too depressing to contemplate.

  The house itself looked as massive as he remembered. The barn, corrals and other outbuildings were located down the hill to the right, and were nearly obscured this afternoon by a heavy curtain of rain.

  Over the winter months, Wyatt had pried some information out of his mother about the place. When she’d moved in as a bride, the house had a two-story center section plus a wing on the right, a wide front porch running the length of the house and a circular driveway. The two medium-sized spruce trees she’d mentioned being located in the middle of the circle now stood at least thirty feet tall.

  After Jack was born the family had added the wing on the left and extended the porch. On each side porch a row of rockers, shiny with rain, moved gently in the wind. Rain had flattened the plants in the flower beds on either side of the wide front steps, and water gushed from downspouts to puddle in the gravel driveway.

  Both wings were set at an angle like arms flung open in welcome, and lights glowed from the windows on this stormy afternoon, inviting travelers inside. Wyatt figured some travelers were more welcome than others. And his category was still in question.

  Olivia looked over at him. “I don’t think it’s going to let up. We’ll have to make a run for it.”

  “You’re right.” Wyatt wondered if he could get away with dropping her off and heading back down the road. Not likely. That would force her into breaking the news that he was here and he’d look like a damned coward for leaving. “Let me pull up closer to the steps. Then you can unload without having to walk on that sloppy gravel in your nice shoes, and I’ll move the truck once you have everything out.”